


her favorite things

by Chesra



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2012-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-16 22:19:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chesra/pseuds/Chesra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are very few things Satsuki has learned to care about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	her favorite things

**Author's Note:**

> This was seriously just supposed to be some fluffy Momoi/Riko  
> but then Satsuki's backstory ran away with me and I had a lot of feelings  
> basically  
> LESBIANS  
> is always a good thing in sports anime

\--

There are very few things Satsuki has learned to care about.  
  
Oh, she’s cared. She used to care _a lot._ About how people think of her, about how she looks. But as time passes, Satsuki's come to know which things are truly important, and that's basketball, and keeping Aomine Daiki a properly functioning human being.  
  
The second thing takes up all her time. Nowadays it’s like the only objective in her life, which should have alerted any sane person about how unhealthy it really is. Satsuki eats, breathes and sleeps for her best friend - his hobbies are her hobbies, his goals are her goals.  
  
Satsuki doesn’t ponder on it too much, however. She’s always been estranged from companionship - particularly female companionship. Her parents are rarely home, and neither are Daiki’s. This absence from their lives is what led to their first meeting - she had first seen him playing basketball in the court near her house, and afterwards she began to spend afternoons watching him, every single day. He had come over and said hello on the second day, and the rest is history.  
  
By the time grade school rolls around, they are already inseparable. He’s her Dai-chan, and she adores him as much as she despairs over him. They had been too young to think that the opposite sex was something to be avoided. And when the time had come when it should have been awkward, Daiki hadn’t cared two shits for what people thought, and so Satsuki had to follow suit.  
  
It isn’t as if Satsuki hadn’t tried to make friends with girls. She did, truly. It was that she was too ugly, too plain, too caught up with basketball, like Daiki. She isn't ever good enough to play ( _it’s not because you’re a girl,_ Daiki tells her, fiercely. _It’s because you can’t shoot for shit.)_ but she loves the sport almost as fervently as he did. She had caught that fever from him and it’ll take a lifetime to recover.  
  
(Daiki’s her incurable disease, if Satsuki is really honest with herself.)  
  
Her interest in sports and her inseparable friendship with Daiki had made having girl friends difficult, if downright impossible. Other girls don’t like Dai-chan, because he is loud and energetic and a total idiot. But it’s those exact traits that endear him to Satsuki, and she can’t have a friend who doesn’t like her best friend.  
  
It gets worse when they get to middle school, because she grows _boobs,_ ahead of everyone else.  
  
Sometimes she catches Dai-chan staring at them and she has to punch him on the face to make him stop. Later on Dai-chan finds other, bigger boobs to fixate on, and Satsuki’s eternally thankful.  
  
Her sudden femininity doesn’t endear her to the girls in class. In fact, the hostility rises; they all stare at her F Cup as though it personally offends them. Satsuki spends the first week of middle school trying to make friends, and failing.  
  
It’s even worse when she calls out “Dai-chan” in the hallways, and a few dozen girls glare at her. _A boyfriend!_ the whispers trail after her, and Satsuki flushes crimson because damn it, Daiki is NOT her boyfriend. The mere idea makes her want to throw up. Dai-chan is more of an overgrown little brother than boyfriend material.  
  
She settles for calling him Aomine-kun in front of everyone. Daiki makes a face at that, but otherwise lets it go. He still calls her “Satsuki,” though, within everyone’s earshot.  
  
(Half the school thinks they’re dating. Satsuki despairs of ever getting a boyfriend.)  
  
As expected, Dai-chan joins their middle school basketball team. Satsuki’s more than prepared to support him in any way she can. After all, she’s smart, ridiculously so (she doubts Daiki would have graduated grade school without her notes), and it’s easy enough to turn it into something useful when it comes to basketball.  
  
“You, the manager?” Daiki says, blinking. He’s made first string - no surprise there. Satsuki notes he’s improving like crazy lately, and under the watchful eye of Akashi he’ll get even better. For once there are goosebumps running down Satsuki’s back when she sees him play - the potential of Dai-chan is overwhelming. She wonders why she’s never seen it before.  
  
“It’s going to be like handling dozens of you,” Satsuki says primly. “I’ve got enough practice.” Daiki huffs at that, but has to concede that Satsuki does a remarkable job at managing the team. Between her and Akashi, the team almost has a semblance of teamwork.  
  
She’s not one of them though, no matter how Satsuki longs it. She sees their easy camaraderie; the way Ki-chan bleeds into Tetsu, into Dai-chan, and so forth. They are teammates, though they all stand individually, and Satsuki has no place among them. She’s still estranged from everybody, and her only line to them is Daiki.  
  
(This is why Satsuki can understand Tetsu, just a little.)  
  
But as all good things come to an end, the team breaks up sometime during third year, the camaraderie turning into something ugly and cruel. Satsuki won’t lie; she’s seen it coming, and so has Akashi. Sometimes she fears he encouraged it, but she’s not made to question his choices. No one is.  
  
The only thing left to do is to pick her side.  
  
And Satsuki’s always known her place is right beside her Dai-chan. She watches him reject scout after scout, frustrated and angry because this is her future too, even though he doesn’t know it at all. She thinks about the Seirin application letter hidden away in her books, knowing it’s Tetsu’s top choice for a school and hating herself for not being able to chase after him.  
  
She may be in love with Tetsu, but Dai-chan needs her, especially now. He’ll self-destruct faster without her constantly stopping him from pushing all his damned buttons.  
  
(Sometimes Satsuki desperately wants not to care, to just leave Daiki to his own self-inflicted misery, but she can’t. She’s been his keeper far too long to shake it off, and the guilt would fester in her like a fungus.  
  
Sometimes Satsuki resents Daiki. But most times, she loves him too much to let go.)  
  
Finally Daiki settles for Touou, because they are willing to give in to his capricious whims. Satsuki gets in contact with them immediately. The coach knows of her; the legendary Teikou manager, he says. “How you handled them all is quite a miracle in itself."  
  
Satsuki smiles; she’s heard enough compliments in her lifetime not to be swayed by them. “I'm going to Touou too,” she says.  
  
“To follow Aomine-kun.” The coach says mildly. It’s a statement, not a question.  
  
Satsuki nods. There is no point in denying the truth. “He’s a little difficult,” she says carefully. The coach raises his eyebrows, as if to say _that’s the understatement of the century._  
  
“I’m aware of that,” he says. “His talent, however, is too good to be ignored.”  
  
“It is,” she agrees, sighing just a bit. “But there’s no point in letting him do everything he wants.”  
  
“And you believe you can stop him?”  
  
Satsuki shrugs. “Not all the time,” she admits. Daiki is his own whirlwind, after all. “But it’s my job to keep him from being too spoiled.”  
  
The coach smiles. “Then I’m glad I have a willing volunteer. I doubt my current team would be so willing to let an ace player get everything he wants.”  
  
Satsuki nods again. They’ve come to an understanding, more or less. She turns to leave.  
  
“I wonder,” the coach muses, as Satsuki reaches for the door handle. “What will Momoi-san do if he goes somewhere she cannot follow?”  
  
She turns to give him a small, pointed smile. “Then I’ll cut open a road to that place myself.”  
  
She doesn’t slam the door on her way out, and counts that as her victory.  
  
\--  
  
  
High school is no different from middle school. The girls still don’t like her - it’s not just her boobs now. Satsuki once looked in the mirror during summer and told herself she was pretty, that she's going to be confident this year. Still, confident doesn’t mean popular.  
  
Plus, she has to spend all her time cleaning up after Daiki’s messes.  
  
He clashes with most of the team, as expected. He refuses to attend practices, and skips most of his classes. Satsuki grits her teeth and tries not to imagine all the ways she can murder him.  
  
The entire basketball team (as well as most of their classmates) still think she’s dating him. Satsuki can’t even be bothered to correct them anymore. She thinks of Tetsu, her first and only love, far away in some other school, possibly still heartbroken and possibly still angry.  
  
(She has no right to love him, she knows. Because if push comes to shove she would always, _always_ choose Daiki over Tetsu.)  
  
But then it turns out that Tetsu’s doing better than she thought, defeating both Ki-chan and Midorin. He has a new light now - Kagami Taiga, some boy from the US. Satsuki resolves to know as much about him as soon as possible.  
  
Their match with Seirin approaches, and Satsuki goes to see the team personally. She’s confident Touou can beat them, but she wants to see the real thing up close as the finishing touch to her research.  
  
She goes to the pool where she knows they’re training, and meets the team. And their famed female coach, Riko Aida.  
  
The first thing Satsuki thinks is, _she’s cute._  
  
The second thing she thinks is _oh no._ Because Riko’s staring at her chest, and her lip is curling. Satsuki’s seen that expression in too many girls to not know what it means.  
  
So she tries to be callous, and a little cruel. Sees her flush with jealousy, and contempt. And Satsuki thinks, just a little giddy, _is this what having a rival feels?_  
  
Satsuki thinks she’s been hanging around too much with Daiki. So she turns and greets her beloved Tetsu. She doesn’t have time to be sidetracked right now.  
  
Talking to Tetsu is like a breath of fresh air - she’s missed him, missed this blunt, observant boy whom she had loved desperately. He still cares, Satsuki realizes with a start. He still cares about Daiki.  
  
And this, in truth, is what primarily attracted her to Tetsu - because here is a person who understands and even shares Satsuki’s irrational compulsion to care for the boy called Aomine Daiki, even though he is occasionally a terrible person and constantly an idiot.  
  
He’s optimistic about changing Daiki. Satsuki wishes she could just as be hopeful. Perhaps she can’t, because she knows the tedium settling in Daiki’s bones is deep seated. Is this Kagami really the challenge Daiki’s waiting for?  
  
When Touou crushes Seirin, Satsuki sighs and walks away in disappointment.  
  
Then she catches sight of Riko Aida. She’s an anchor in the sinking Seirin ship, and Satsuki is both surprised and delighted to see that the fierce determination has not been wiped from her face.  
  
Satsuki smiles to herself. Maybe it isn’t over yet, after all.  
  
The next time they encounter Seirin is in the hot springs, which Satsuki most definitely engineered. It’s a perfect excuse to run into them, since they’ll be Touou’s next opponent. Satsuki is almost a little too happy to have someone else in the ladies’ area for once. She spies on Riko’s body, envying how petite and cute she is, without even trying. Maybe if she was more small and cute, she’d be Tetsu’s type?  
  
Riko flushes under her scrutiny. “You can stop staring, you know!” she snaps, clearly embarrassed.  
  
“Hmm,” Satsuki says. She wants to point out that Riko's staring at her too, even more blatantly. But she has more important things to talk about “Aren’t you excited for our next game, then?”  
  
Riko narrows her eyes at her. “What do you mean?”  
  
Satsuki tells her. She relishes in the surprise in Riko’s expression. “Let’s have a good match!” She adds, right at the end. As usual, Riko rises to the bait. Now Satsuki really understands Daiki’s constant need for a rival; the feeling goes straight to your head.  
  
Satsuki can’t stop grinning on the way home. If the rest of Touou thinks it’s because she’s simply excited to have a rematch with Seirin, then she lets them think that.

\--

Seirin wins, to Satsuki’s shock. Then they win against Yosen, and then afterwards, Kaijou. Satsuki watches them take down the Generation of Miracles, one by one, and she realizes that she can’t help but admire them.  
  
She runs into Riko in the bus station two days before the Rakuzan match. It’s raining hard and they’re the only two people waiting.  
  
Riko still looks at her with hostility, but it’s more about her chest and less about basketball. After all, this time around they’re the ones with the latest win, so Satsuki supposes the Seirin coach can afford to be a little proud.  
  
“You’ve been doing so well,” she says to her.  
  
Riko grins. “We’re going to be Number 1,” she says. Satsuki likes how confident she can say it.  
  
“Then I wish you luck,” Satsuki says. “Akashi-kun is quite a challenge, but I’m sure Seirin won’t give up!”  
  
Riko nods. Then there’s a bit of awkward silence while Satsuki wonders what to say next.  
  
“So did you promise a reward for your team?” She asks teasingly. “After all, winning the Winter Cup is such a big goal! What keeps the boys inclined, I wonder?”  
  
Riko folds her arms. “It’s less of a reward and more of a punishment if they lose,” she says haughtily.  
  
“So cruel, Riko-san! Didn’t you at least promise them all a kiss?”  
  
Riko turns bright red. “Wh-what sort of reward is that!?”  
  
Satsuki grins. “Well it’s special to whoever gets the first kiss, don’t you think?”  
  
Riko looks away. Satsuki’s eyebrows go up.  
  
“Ahh,” Satsuki muses. “I guess someone else has already stolen it! That makes me a bit jealous, Riko-san!”  
  
Riko glares at her. “Shut up!”  
  
“Was it Hyuuga-san?” Satsuki asks, smirking. As expected, Riko turns scarlet.  
  
“He’s not - we’re not - “ she splutters.  
  
Satsuki wags her finger mischievously. “Oh Riko-san, let’s not lie. You can’t fool a woman’s intuition!”  
  
Riko gapes at her, and Satsuki giggles.  
  
Then Riko suddenly says, “Then did your intuition tell you this,” and then she tiptoes to kiss Satsuki, and for once Satsuki is frozen silent with those lips pressed against hers. It’s nice; Riko’s lips are soft, not dry and chapped and rough. She’s soft and warm, not harsh or full of sharp angles, or too annoyingly tall, and Satsuki thinks she’s enjoying this kiss too much.  
  
“Hmm,” Satsuki says as they break away, licking her lips. “Not bad, Riko-san! Have you been practicing?”  
  
And Riko flushes again, her face a cute pout. Unlike Tetsu, Riko’s such a ridiculously open book. Satsuki isn’t interested in people she can read; hasn’t been for years. But there’s something about Riko that makes her irresistible.  
  
 _No wonder both  Hyuuga-san and Kiyoshi-san are in love with her,_ she thinks, with a self-satisfied smirk.  
  
“I can’t believe all I’m kissing are girls,” Riko mutters, and Satsuki perks up.  
  
“Who?” she asks, partly curious and partly envious.  
  
Riko sighs. “I don’t know if you’ve seen her around, but Kagami’s teacher from the US? Alex Garcia?”  
  
Satsuki’s eyes go wide. “Alex Garcia? From WNBA?” She half-shrieks. Alex is one of the hottest female basketball players ever. Now Satsuki doesn’t even know who to be jealous of. “You’re so lucky!”  
  
Riko rolls her eyes. “I thought you were in love with Kuroko,” she reminds her.  
  
“Of course I love Tetsu, but he’s not going to put out anytime soon!” Riko actually laughs at that, for once. Satsuki feels a thrill of camaraderie, which she hasn’t felt with anyone since Daiki.  
  
All of the sudden it’s like her heart is caught in her sleeve. Thankfully the bus arrives, and Riko has to get on. She gives Satsuki a small wave, and there she goes.  
  
Satsuki smiles to herself. It’s not unlike the feeling she used to get when Tetsu smiled at her. Riko might be an open book, but she’s not entirely predictable.  
  
After all, she’s the coach of the unexpected Seirin team.

\--  
  
Seirin beats Rakuzan in the Winter Cup. Perhaps if Satsuki didn’t know Riko Aida; if she didn’t know Tetsu and his Kagamin, she would have been surprised.  
  
But Seirin has always defied expectations. Sometimes Satsuki thinks they’re the miracle in this generation.  
  
She catches up to the team as they exit. Daiki ambles towards Tetsu and Kagami, as expected. Satsuki thinks her congratulations to Tetsu can wait, so she waves to Riko instead. The coach approaches her, her expression thoughtful, clearly remembering the last time they were together.  
  
Satsuki smiles. “Congratulations,” she says.  
  
“Thanks,” Riko says. She’s elated, by the self-satisfied grin on her face. Her hands are twined on her growing hair. Satsuki longs to touch it.  
  
She looks behind Riko; her team is full of happy little boys, all caught up in their celebratory mood. She sighs quietly to herself, and looks at Riko again. “We must celebrate your win,” she declares.  
  
Riko hesitates. “It depends on what you’re planning. If I get invited to another drinking party full of underage boys, it’ll be too soon,” she says.  
  
Satsuki makes a face. She knows _exactly_ what she means. The Teikou celebrations were more low key - one, only Daiki and Kichan really drank - Mukkun preferred sweets and Tetsu was a lightweight; but Touou parties hard. Satsuki never wants to see another teammate projectile vomit ever again.  
  
“I was thinking something less exciting,” she says, grinning.  
  
Riko raises an eyebrow. “Oh really?”  
  
  
The next day, Satsuki cleans her room with a passion. Daiki, who is used to the mess in her room, is bewildered. “What are you doing?” he asks as Satsuki attacks the floor with a broom.  
  
“I'm having a sleepover!” She tells him. “Girls only.”  
  
Daiki makes a face. “You’ve never had a sleepover,” he says. Daiki knows this because he’s the only other person who’s ever been in her room. He’s carved his own hole in Satsuki’s place; a hidden drawer full of porn that Satsuki once watched alone, a pair or two of basketball shoes, extra clothes and most of his schoolbooks, all unread.  
  
Satsuki glares at him. “Well I’m having one now,” she says. “And you’re _not_ invited. So get out! Riko-san’s going to get here in fifteen!”  
  
Aomine raises an eyebrow. “Who?”  
  
“Seirin’s coach,” she says. “Now, shoo! Or I’ll tell your mom where your porn is.” Daiki grimaces, but recognizes the threat for what it is. He rolls out of her bed, grumbling.  
  
“And take your stuff with you!” Satsuki reminds him. Daiki gives her a look, but grumpily takes his magazine stash before heading downstairs.  
  
The doorbell rings right afterwards, and Satsuki runs to the door, her stomach in knots from both panic and excitement. “Hi, Riko-san!” she greets, trying not to bounce.  
  
“Hello, Momoi-san,” Riko says. She’s carrying a backpack. There’s a car behind her, with a guy on the wheel that Satsuki assumes is Riko’s dad. She gives him a wave. He awkwardly raises a hand before driving away.  
  
“Come on in!” Satsuki says. “My parents aren’t home so we can make all the noise we want.”

Riko falls in step with her.  
  
“I saw Aomine-kun leaving your place earlier,” Riko says. “He doesn’t look happy.”  
  
Satsuki waves it away. “I kicked him out. It’s a girls only sleepover, after all! But don’t worry, Tetsu’s got it covered,” she says. She sent a pleading text to Tetsu earlier to get Kagamin to entertain Daiki for a while. With luck, Kagami’s going to be a challenge today and Daiki won’t be home for hours. If she’s super lucky, Kagami might invite him to stay for the night, and Satsuki won’t have to worry about Daiki hanging outside her window like a scorned lover. This is one of the few times Satsuki wishes they weren't next door neighbors.  
  
“So,” Riko says once they get to her room. Satsuki’s done her best to clean it up, and to hide any of Daiki’s lingering belongings. “What do we do?”  
  
And here it is, the culmination of all of Satsuki’s grade school dreams. Nail painting, pillow fights, talking about makeup and boys and maybe trying on all her outfits.  
  
The excitement must show in her face because Riko nervously backs away. “Uh,” she says, awkwardly motioning to her backpack. “I brought face masks.”  
  
“Excellent!”  
  
The next two hours are the best in Satsuki’s life. They put on the face masks and play some happy pop music on the stereo. Satsuki gives Riko makeup tips while they look over her closet. Riko can’t try on her tops (she looks guiltily down her breasts), but they’ve got the same waistline so they go over her skirts and shorts. Riko’s unexpectedly good at putting on nail polish (“I can’t ever apply it properly,” Satsuki confides in her) and Satsuki curls Riko’s hair (“I’m going to cut it soon, though,” Riko says, and Satsuki makes a sad, mournful sigh). They lament over their lack of cooking skills (“I don’t understand why they think girls need to learn how to cook,” Riko says. “I know!” Satsuki shrieks in agreement) and then they put on a DVD of an action film. (“You don’t like chick flicks?” “Trust me, Riko-san, I have never believed in changing for the boy you like.” “Oh thank God, I was afraid I was the only girl in the universe who thought all the movies were bullshit.”) They finish off two bowls of popcorn all by themselves. By the time of the last explosion, Satsuki’s already leaning sleepily into Riko’s shoulder, ridiculously content.  
  
Later, after they’ve both changed into pajamas, Satsuki rolls out the futons on the foor, and they lie down beside each other. There’s a bit of silence as Satsuki racks her brain for the proper gossip to start out with.  
  
Instead, the first thing she blurts out is a bitter truth. “I’ve never had a girl friend,” Satsuki says, softly, staring at the ceiling.  
  
“Like a girl friend or a girlfriend,” Riko says, sounding slightly hunted.  
  
“Both, I guess.” Satsuki rolls over, casually tugging at a loose thread on her pajama top. “I mean - I’ve never had sleepovers. Like this.” It’s an embarrassing confession.  
  
It’s a relief when Riko turns to face her and says, “Me too.”  
  
Satsuki’s eyes go wide. “Really?”  
  
Riko snorts. “How many girls do you know have dads who run gyms, who’ve spent all their lives thinking about basketball?” Satsuki shrugs. “You just end up not having time for other things.”  
  
“It’s not that I hate it,” Riko adds thoughtfully. “I love basketball.” The fierce way she says it makes Satsuki fall a little more in love.  
  
“Me too,” Satsuki says. “But sometimes - the boys are such idiots, aren’t they?”  
  
Riko shakes her head. “Don’t even get me started,” she says wryly. “Every day I want to bump all their heads together in hopes it’ll make them a little more sensible.”  
  
Satsuki lets out a breathless laugh. “You’ve got it easier,” she says. “You don’t have to deal with Dai-chan all the time!” At Riko’s confused look she explains. “Aomine-kun.”  
  
Riko nods slowly. “Oh yeah. He’s definitely a mess.” There’s a pause.  
  
“So,” Riko says. “You and him?”  
  
Satsuki feels a blush come up, and she’s surprised at her own reaction. It’s been forever since being teased to Daiki has affected her. “We’re just friends,” she says. “And it’s good, that way. I’ve never - well, once,” she admits. The first time she had seen Daiki singlehandedly defeat the enemy in basketball, back in middle school, it had taken her breath away. “But he’s such a boy sometimes. And an idiot, to boot. Tetsu’s the one I’m in love with. Not that I have any chance with that.”  
  
Riko nods, looking both sympathetic and understanding. Satsuki has a sudden urge to hug her.  
  
“What about you, Riko-san?” She says. “Kiyoshi-san and Hyuuga-san - who are you going to pick?”  
  
Riko snorts. “Are you kidding me? Those two are far too in love with basketball to even think about dating.” She smiles, a little. “I think we’re okay,” she says. “I mean, I love them. But I don’t want to date them. It might ruin things. And they’re always so intent on keeping secrets from me all the damn time. Those two have their own ridiculous world.”  
  
“Just like Teikou,” Satsuki says. There’s the quiet jealousy over the Generation of Miracles again; the way Daiki is part of them and she isn’t.  
  
 _What will Momoi-san do if he goes somewhere she cannot follow?_  
  
Satsuki clenches her fist unconsciously. So it’s a shock when Riko reaches out to cover it with her own hand.  
  
“I think,” Riko says, her eyes serious, “we deserve our own world, don’t you think?”  
  
Satsuki remembers their first kiss; then it had been a joke, a challenge.  
  
This time when she moves, it’s a secret, a promise. She can feel Riko’s heart hammering against her own, and it’s the sweetest sound in the world.  
  
“I’d like that,” she murmurs, as they break apart. They share secret smiles, and Satsuki lets her fingers slip into Riko’s own.  
  
That night, they fall asleep curled up into each other.  
  
\--  
  
Daiki eyes her warily the following Monday at school, as she hums to herself in good cheer. “You’re happy today,” he says. _Too happy,_ his expression adds.  
  
“Why shouldn’t I?” Satsuki says. “Dai-chan, I made a _girl friend.”_ Daiki chokes on his water, and Satsuki turns away, her grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat.  
  
There are very few things Satsuki has learned to care about, and maybe it’s high time she’s made time for something - or someone - new.


End file.
